Croatian powerhouse Cedevita Zagreb is coming off a season in which the team made a run in every competition it entered and added a pair of domestic trophies to its fast-growing collection. Cedevita had an impressive 7DAYS EuroCup Regular Season, which it opened with a pair of losses only to string together six consecutive wins the rest of the way, including on the road at Lietkabelis Panevezys and Nizhny Novgorod and at home against Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas. Once in the Top 16, Cedevita found itself in a group with eventual champion Unicaja Malaga and eventual runner-up Valencia Basket, but Cedevita did not go down without; it took Valencia to the wire in the group-opener, and edged Unicaja in the final game of the season. In domestic competition, Cedevita made it to the Adriatic League finals after defeating Partizan Belgrade in the playoff semis, but was swept by Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade in the finals. In Croatia, however, Cedevita went all the way in both competitions. The team lifted its fifth Cup in six seasons by defeating Jolly JBS Sibenik and went on to beat city rival Cibona Zagreb on the road in the deciding Game 5 of the Croatian League finals for its fourth consecutive title.

EuroLeague

SEASON

COMPETITION

RECORD

FINISH

2015-16

Euroleague

8-16

Top 16

2014-15

Euroleague

3-7

Regular Season

2012-13

Euroleague

2-8

Regular Season

TOTAL:

13-31

EuroCup

SEASON

COMPETITION

RECORD

FINISH

2016-17

EuroCup

8-6

Top 16

2014-15

EuroCup

4-4

Eighthfinal

2013-14

EuroCup

8-8

Last 32

2011-12

EuroCup

1-5

Regular Season

2010-11

EuroCup

11-5

Semifinal

TOTAL:

32-28

History

Cedevita was founded in 1991 under the name KK Botinec. The team climbed to the second division in 1998 and reached the Croatian elite in 2002, but its ambitions rose when a big sponsor, Atlantic Grupa, took over in 2005 and the club changed its name to KK Cedevita. The team reached the Croatian League semifinals for the first time in the 2009-10 campaign and also finished seventh in its Adriatic League debut, however nobody expected what came next. Cedevita shocked everyone and did the unthinkable in the 2010-11 EuroCup when it survived a qualifying round, regular season and the Last 16 before knocking off Estudiantes in the quarterfinals to get to the EuroCup Finals. Unics Kazan halted its great run in the semifinals, but Cedevita had written a brilliant chapter in its history. Dontaye Draper was named EuroCup MVP and Aco Petrovic EuroCup Coach of the Year for guiding the team on its fantastic run. Cedevita then reached its first Croatian League finals, but was swept by KK Zagreb. In 2011-12 Cedevita won its first-ever title – the Croatian Cup – behind the performance of veteran forward Matjaz Smodis. That same season the club reached the Adriatic League title game and the Croatian League finals, but Maccabi Tel Aviv and Cibona Zagreb, respectively, stood in its way. Domestic success led Cedevita to its Turkish Airlines EuroLeague debut in 2012-13 season, which it finished with 2-8 record. That turned out to be a title-free season, but the last such for Cedevita. The next season was the first of two where the club reached the Adriatic League finals. Cedevita also celebrated a Croatian double – a historic success capped with a finals sweep of Cibona. In 2014-15, Cedevita returned to the EuroLeague, where it registered regular season road wins against Maccabi and ALBA Berlin, before continuing its journey in the EuroCup and reaching the eighthfinals, where it was ousted after two close games by eventual runner-up Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas. At home, Cedevita lost the Adriatic League best-of-five final series against Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade, but took its second consecutive Croatian Cup and League double. In 2015-16 season, Cedevita reached the EuroLeague Top 16 for the first time ever. Led by playmaker Jacob Pullen and big man Miro Bilan, Cedevita won three of its first four road games in the regular season, downing Anadolu Efes Istanbul, EA7 Emporio Armani Milan and Limoges CSP, before clinching a spot in the Top 16. It then managed to win four games, one of which was a 30-point beating of the eventual runner-up Fenerbahce Istanbul. That season, Cedevita continued its dominance in Croatia, too, lifting another double. Now, after a couple more domestic trophies and with a new coach at the helm, Cedevita is not hiding its ambition to make a very long run in the EuroCup once again.